


and every last shivering atom

by dire_quail



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, F/F, Forgiveness, Goodbyes, Hello friends it's time to CRY, Magic, Mild Contagious Empathy, Post-Canon, goodbye kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27123484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dire_quail/pseuds/dire_quail
Summary: It's over.For a few moments, there's nothing but the sound of breathing and shifting bodies, as they start to catch their breath. They're only just heartbeats out of battle; sweat and blood and magic on their faces and hands.And their surprise ally, the one who made this victory possible, shines like a small sun, obscuring Adora's familiar form with her own and scrambling even Glimmer's senses, trained and accustomed to magic, with the force of her presence, regal and fierce and familiar and not all at once. Taking advantage of their connection via She-Ra to help Adora one last time."Mara."OR: Mara says good-bye.
Relationships: Light Hope/Mara (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	and every last shivering atom

**Author's Note:**

> title from: https://pencap.tumblr.com/post/187276682965/i-am-become-a-name-ulysses-tennyson
> 
> * * *
> 
> _You speak, soft yet steel-cored,  
>  and you contain all of me in your voice_
> 
> _You speak,  
>  and I am contained within it,  
> bone and blood and soul and scar  
> and every last shivering atom._
> 
> * * *

It's over. 

For a few moments, there's nothing but the sound of breathing and shifting bodies, as they start to catch their breath. They're only just heartbeats out of battle; sweat and blood and magic on their faces and hands. 

And their surprise ally, the one who made this victory possible, shines like a small sun, obscuring Adora's familiar form with her own and scrambling even Glimmer's senses, trained and accustomed to magic, with the force of her presence, regal and fierce and familiar and not all at once. Taking advantage of their connection via She-Ra to help Adora one last time. 

"Mara." 

Glimmer almost doesn't recognize the voice. She hadn't known a hologram could put so much emotion into a word. Any amount of words, let alone one. 

Mara turns toward that voice. They all turn. 

Across the settling dust of the battlefield, at the top of the short, broad staircase that sweeps down to where the fighting was, Light Hope appears unexpectedly. At first, she looks almost like she usually does; her hands are clasped in front of her, one over the other, and she's as straight-backed and upright as ever. 

But moments pass and no further words come. And Glimmer perceives—the detail of Light Hope's projection is exquisite. Her hands are clenched on each other as if straining to hold themselves in place, a taut line of illusory muscle in her forearms. And the look on her face is nothing short of wrenching. 

After a moment, that impossibly bright being sharing Adora's body _beams_ at the softly glowing figure at the top of the stairs. "Hope." 

The name has everything missing from _Hope's_ voice: Warm and open where Hope's voice is raw, joyful where Hope seems almost desperate, soothing and fervent where Hope sounds jagged and broken. 

There are tears streaming down her face, Glimmer realizes, even though she didn't know Light Hope at all, had hardly interacted with her. There are tears streaming down everyone's faces. The only ones _not_ crying are Mara, who doesn't truly have a body anymore, and Light Hope, who never has. 

Light Hope makes a sound that isn't a word, and Glimmer isn't sure how to describe it, only that it makes her vision blur with tears like some invisible force is wringing them out of her body. It makes her throat ache like something sharp is trying to push its way out from inside it. It makes her knees feel like water, and has her reaching for Bow's arm—and finding him gripping back for dear life. It feels like something twists hard in her stomach. Her heart _hurts_. It hurts so much. For those few moments, every cell in Glimmer's body hurts for Light Hope. 

They're all frozen, caught up in the same overflow of emotion across boundaries that are normally considered uncrossable, even for the most powerful of sorcerers: Time, and death. Will Light Hope cross the floor to her? Will Mara? 

Mara-in-Adora picks her way through the crowd of frozen fighters, gently guiding them aside where they seem to have forgotten how to move. She climbs the stairs and comes to stand in front of Light Hope. 

Her _smile_. 

Glimmer never knew Mara, rebel of legend, had the most gentle, beautiful smile. And she knows enough to know when magic is putting its thumb on _those_ scales. The tears? One hundred percent magic (okay, maybe eighty percent; Glimmer clearly doesn't know the whole story with them, but she's not _that_ dense). 

The smile? Is all Mara. 

Mara and Light Hope are the same height, with She-Ra in the mix. Standing before her, Light Hope's hands are even tighter than before, the knuckles sharply defined, like she might wring them, or reach out if she could, or maybe just shatter into shards of light if Mara comes any closer. 

"You did it." Mara says, smiling. "You broke free." 

Light Hope says nothing for a long moment. "It is lonely without you." She manages finally. 

_That_ flood of tears wasn't magic.

"I'm with you." Mara says reassuringly, as if she knows Hope might break at even the wrong word. She holds out her/Adora's hand, wreathed in light. 

Almost tentatively, Light Hope reaches her hand out in response—clearly expecting them to pass through each other. They did this a lot when Mara was alive, Glimmer can tell. 

Their hands meet and don't pass through each other. 

Light Hope looks at Mara, agape. 

Mara smiles wider. 

"You walk in the halls of _my_ heart, now." She says, and Glimmer has the feeling that there are promises given over a thousand years ago being referenced here. 

Light Hope's projection doesn't glitch, exactly, but it shimmers in a way that Glimmer thinks looks remarkably like a tremor. "I... How can you... How can you look at me?" 

"You're beautiful. It's not often anyone gets to see something entirely new come into this world. I watched you wake up." Mara pauses. "You know you have nothing to apologize for." 

"You would be ashamed of me, if you could see what I became." 

Mara reaches up and cups Hope's cheek with her free hand. "I saw." Light Hope's eyes close. "And I'm so _sorry_ , Hope. I'm sorry I couldn't help. I never wanted you to hurt like that. They tried to ruin you." Anger warms her voice, and Glimmer feels something inside her tremble, the low shiver of atoms at distant thunder. 

"They did." Light Hope's response is barely audible. 

"Oh, Hope." Mara pulls Light Hope close. Hope's arms hover awkwardly for a few moments, and her posture is stiff, surprised—Glimmer thinks this may be the first time Light Hope has ever been hugged, period—and then her arms come to rest around Mara's back, molding tighter and tighter as she adjusts. Her chin rests on Mara's shoulder. "I'm so sorry." 

They stay like that for a little while. Glimmer becomes aware that Bow is sniffling and his shoulders are shaking slightly next to her. She tightens her arm around his side. 

"I'm so proud of you." Mara says finally.

" _Proud_? How?" Light Hope seems almost aghast, but instead of pulling away, she seems to sink deeper into Mara's arms, like she could hide herself from Mara's words there. 

"You remembered me and you protected Adora. You did what I would've asked, if I was there. You remembered me, and protected her." Mara pulls back to cup her cheek again and look her in the eye. "My love. You found your way." 

Light Hope makes that same pained sound as earlier, and it's only the tiniest bit less painful for Glimmer this time. "I _failed_. I was overwhelmed. I should have been able to resist. I _was_ able to resist—"

"No, love. You weren't. You said it yourself: Those were your limits. You did everything I could've hoped. And I have always forgiven you." 

Mara kisses her. 

Light Hope's hands loosen and drift through the air again, empty, as if she let go of Mara briefly in shock. They resettle on Mara's shoulders, and Glimmer sees them tighten, sees Light Hope's brow furrow and then smooth, sees her hands slide the rest of the way up to Mara's face. 

Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the gold-limned edges of Mara's form start to dissolve and stream away into the air. The familiar angles of Adora's She-Ra form begin to show through underneath. Mara is dissolving into light. 

As she does, whatever allows them to "touch" seems to disappear with her. Adora and Light Hope sort of sink into each other, until something gives and Adora passes partway through Light Hope's face and jerks back, covering her mouth. Light Hope fizzles for a moment, then re-forms, looking... 

Well, Glimmer wouldn't have expected her to look any _better_ , after that. 

Adora pulls away and now seems to be slowly backing away from Light Hope, straightening her jacket. She's blushing, Glimmer realizes, noticing her self-consciously ducked head. 

For her part, Glimmer wishes _she_ could give Light Hope a hug, even if their main interactions have been either Light Hope pointedly ignoring her or the two of them lying to each other to try and extract information from the other. She gets why Adora is a little preoccupied—her girlfriend is right there—but Light Hope looks like she just lost something irreplaceable, staring into some middle distance like she's watching Mara draw farther and farther away. Perfectly alone in a courtyard full of fighters. 

As the group starts to shake themselves free of the grip of whatever magic the two of them had them in, Light Hope bows her head, one hand rising to her mouth, and disappears without another word.


End file.
